If you look at the dates of the individual posts on this thread, you'll notice that the last post prior to Jim M's was in April 2008. Nothing wrong with the thread resurrection as far as I can see (i.e. no outdated info that I noticed), but the gap in dates is confusing to many!

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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey

Not to sound like a gram weenie. A lot of people are packing a First Aid Booklet of some sort. If you take a Red Cross first aid class, or perhaps read said booklet. You will not have to pack it any longer. Just my .02

"If you take a Red Cross first aid class, or perhaps read said booklet. You will not have to pack it any longer."

That's what these forums are best at IMO --- sharing differing points of view. My perspective is that I won't reliably remember everything about every possible medical procedure that could arise, that these days city-based first aid classes tend to focus more now on "do no harm and call 911 right away", and that one or more backcountry first aid type of books weigh nothing as eBooks on my smart phone.

In fact, I also carry a sheet or maybe two of paper that I put some efficiently compact and small font first aid type of notes onto, just as a backup.

I'm not a gram weenie. I'll admit to on occasion being an ounce weenie, however! :-)

Best is a Wilderness First Aid class, usually 16 hours and about $200. Well worth the money, IMHO! Unlike the standard Red Cross course (call 911) you learn how to stabilize the patient while waiting for rescue, which may take several days.

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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey

I am not a true ultralight and I usually hike solo so I usually have my Kindle with me for the long nights in the tent. That allows me to take a full blown first aid manual. Many take their iphone or other electronic readers also.

As a school bus driver I was required to take Red Cross first aid training every two years. BrianLe is correct that the major emphasis of these trainings was recognizing the problem and calling 911 for anything that seemed to be serious. Wilderness first aid was nowhere on the agenda and whatever could be applied from one to the other applied only to very minor problems that most of us learn to cope with, without any Red Cross training.

Take a wilderness first aid course, if you would like to learn what you'd need to know out on the trail.

Take a wilderness first aid class and you will quickly understand that everything in your pack is part of your first aid kit, and the best thing in the kit sits firmly between your ears. Prevention is the lion's share of the work. Understanding what you can treat and continue (not a lot) and what should result in engagement of evacuation procedures (a lot of things) is the crux of the thing....

Basic first aid for your average citizen does not begin to touch things like hypothermia and hyperthermia. All hikers should have a basic understanding of those and do whatever they need to to avoid them.

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"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few." Shunryu Suzuki

total weight 5.7 oz(I should mention in my ditty bag I carry a small roll of duct tape and my swiss army knife has scissors)...I can also use my 2 sleeping bag straps to make a pretty nice splint and attach my sleeping bag a different way to my pack)

Comfrey powder: .01 oz in vial. "Knitbone is amazing. Many uses but it's overnight healing ability is worth it's weight in gold.Creosote (fine crushed): .02 or .03 oz in small zip baggy. Many uses but hard to beat as a anti bacterial topical. Boil for 2 min. Soak infected area. Done. It grows all over where I am but nobody here knows what it can do but the natives. Sawyer Extracter: Not much use with snake bites but it does have some effect on scorpion stings, another thing we have um here.

...Creosote (fine crushed): .02 or .03 oz in small zip baggy. Many uses but hard to beat as a anti bacterial topical. Boil for 2 min. Soak infected area. Done. It grows all over where I am but nobody here knows what it can do but the natives. ....

So, you are talking about the shrub that grows outwardly in rings in the desert, correct? What part do you crush finely? The outer bark, the inner bark, leaves....? What are some other uses?

Yes. Larrea tridentata is known as creosote bush and greasewood as a plant, chaparral as a medicinal herb. Abundant in the Sonoran Desert and thru-out the South West at elevations below 5k feet.The tops of the plant (leaves, flowers and small stems) are most desirable for making the "tea". I simply grab a handful off the top of branches and anything that is easy to rip off is what I use. It is best if it is flowering but not necessary. I get enough to 1/3 fill whatever pot I'm using and cover with enough water to fully submerge it. Then boil for a few min. It will discolor your pot a bit. Beware. You can cut the side out of a plastic water bottle and put the "tea" in it then soak your foot in that for something like a bad case of athletes foot. Soak for as long as possible while the mix is hot. Not hot enough to burn, of course but hot like tea. 1 or 2 treatments is normally enough.For a smoke "bath" that will kill body bourne bacteria and act as a natural bug spray you can take a small branch, leaves and all and burn it, wafting the smoke over your body, under armpits, etc. Burning a little in a campfire will help keep skeeters away.Sometimes, if skeeters are bad, I'll get some branches smoldering and smoking and place them strategically and SAFELY around my camp. Better than any citronella candles.

Comfrey and this are 2 herbs that every thru kit should have at least a small amount of. Creosote takes a fair amount to make a good "tea". But in crushed up, almost powder form, (for lightweight) it does work pretty well, even after being dried (better for crushing). The oils can be pretty overbearing to work with but it is all good stuff for ya.

Agreed. I am a retired volunteer EMT and hike with some people who have taken the wilderness first Aid class. It seems very complete and well adapted to the outdoors where help isn't immediately available. I make sure I keep lots of gauze bandages, and 4x4's in my kit because in the past I have mostly treated other people who were scraped up and bleeding.

I don't know much about backcountry medicine but doing health and safety for an oil company I learned to always ask the group for their health issues. People are reluctant to volunteer medical information like epilepsy or diabetes for fear you won't let them go along, but if you ask they understand. So if you are responsible (whatever thaT means) or just in a group and nobody else asks and you don't know everybody really well, it might be a good thing to ask.

I never thought of bringing potassium and magnesium. Is that for an electrolyte, or what? I like to bring pepto-bismal tablets: good for mild diarreah and stomach upset. Also, I like some renatadine for acid stomach/acid reflux, especially because I always take a lot of naprosyn when I'm hiking: I think the renatadine buffers the stomach some. I also bring some antacid tabs (starting to see a common theme here? Plus I like to have few vocodin or tylenol 3, just in case of major pain. What the hell, throw in a couple flexaril, too.

My first aid kit started as one given to me when I did a first aid course for work. It's a belt pouch version, 2x3x4" in size. It's now packed full, and from what I can remember that's in there (don't want to unpack it unless I need to):

I am an EMT by trade and I carry far more than most people because I can use some rather more sophisticated stuff than others. I also do not hesitate to offer my services to other hikers. My kit is also constantly in flux and I am aware that I probably carry far too much or at least more than can rationally be justified, but the whole premise of EMS is to be prepared. I have occasionally, when in a rash mood, considered carrying s suture setup. I suppose I could leave the lidocaine and syringes at home, but it would still need betedyne and other skin cleansers. At the end I have decided on duct/duck tape to close a wound, then get myself or the other party out.Hemorrhage? I have dealt with a pile professionally and in one way or another have controlled them all. I have done it twice on myself, once alone, once with a panicked wife. I got the bleed controlled without panic or irrationality.This is important. No matter how rattled you may be inside, do not show it if you are helping another. In any case, the old saw, "there are only two kinds of bleed, those life threatening and those not" is accurate. Remember it if it is yourself or another. Center yourself, breathe normally and know that rationality saves lives, yours or anothers.This is the thing I believe. Know how to control a bleed (yes, you can use a tourniquet if you know how) and how to stabilize a break and you are pretty much good.If you can find it, take the new "Control the Bleed" program offered in medical squads through Homeland Security. Horrendous wounds can be controlled with a tiny amount of knowledge. Ten minutes of training is enough if done by a skilled teacher. (A man at the Boston bombing had both legs severed mid-femur and survived because an Afgan war vet knew how to use a tourniquet. 8 or 9 people died in the Florida shooting that could have lived had someone knew how to stop the bleed.)So - control the bleed, stabilize a break, control shock, get help. Carry stuff you need for these purposes and you are good. PS carry gloves, plenty of gauze, tape, duct or surgical, improvise slings and splints, wound cleanser, allergy tabs, NSAIDs. The rest is good to have to help others, but those are the basics.PPS blister treatment is good for everyone, I carry a splinter forceps because I know how to use it, a small hemostat and a pair of dedicated nail cutters. Come to think,with the hemostat my sewing stuff and cleanser I could do a desperation suture if I needed to.